Interaction of high contrast laser pulse with foam-attached target

Abstract

Interactions of high contrast laser pulses with foam-attached targets are investigated via particle-in-cell simulations in order to enhance the energy coupling from laser to plasmas. A foam layer whose mass density is much lower than that of the solid state is used for controlling the plasma density distribution of the laser irradiation region with the aid of the high contrast laser pulses, which are by contrast with the expanding profile of preformed plasmas which are inevitably generated by the irradiation of the low contrast laser pulses. The ionization process plays a role in the laser and foam interaction, which results in the formation of periodic structure of ion charge density. The bulk electrons inside the foam layer are heated by the laser pulse, which results in the generation of abundant MeV electrons and higher energy coupling from laser to plasma. These features are utilized for laser ion acceleration by using a foam-attached thin foil target. It is shown that the laser accelerated ion energy is enhanced by properly choosing the foam parameters.